ISIL Surfaces In Nigeria, Expands Network In Africa

Another terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has reportedly surfaced in Nigeria.

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, made this known while addressing the UN Security Council on Wednesday in New York, the United States.

According to Voronkov, ISIL has started to expand its affiliates and network beyond Syria and Iraq to Nigeria and other African countries.

He disclosed that the epicentre of the activities of the ISIL terrorist group, officially known as Da’esh, now appeared to be in the African continent.

The Under-Secretary-General said that the terrorist activities were gaining ground in Central and West Africa, which he said continues at an “unsettling” scale and pace.

According to him, the terrorist activities are intensifying in Central and West Africa – especially Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Niger – and attacks are increasingly reported in the border area between Mozambique and Tanzania.

Pointing to potential spill-over effects that could reach even beyond the continent, he urged countries to use every tool at their disposal to sustain important gains made against the group.

Voronkov urged the Security Council to use every tool to sustain the gains made against the group, preventing its further regional expansion, curtailing its attack capabilities, and preventing additional recruitment.

According to him, the global fight against the shadowy, ever-morphing threat posed by the ISIL terrorist group and its affiliates, remains a “long-term game” for which there are “no quick fixes’’.

Voronkov said the threat from Da’esh was still very real in both Syria and Iraq, where the group retained an estimated 6,000-10,000 fighters and continued to carry out hit-and-run operations, ambushes, and roadside bombings.